Chris Smalling gave the lead to AS Roma with a headed goal from a corner kick inside the opening six minutes before Roger Ibanez doubled it after the break from yet another set piece.
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AS Roma defeated Spezia 2-0 in the Serie A fixture at Olimpico on Monday. Jose Mourinho’s side broke the deadlock early through Chris Smalling’s header before Roger Ibanez sealed the win with yet another headed goal from a set piece in the second half. There was late drama as substitute Felix Afena-Gyan who was already on a yellow card received his second and was sent off for stopping the ball with his hand and smashing it into the net. The loss left Spezia still languishing at the relegation zone
Roma started the match positively and grabbed an early lead inside the opening 6 minutes. Jordan Veretout’s corner kick from the right flank found Tammy Abraham inside the box. The English striker headed it across to compatriot Smalling, who headed home from close range.
The hosts were keeping the ball possession and were playing some good football. Abraham played a lovely flick from the left flank to release Matias Vina on the left side of the penalty area. The Uruguayans right-foot curler was parried away by Ivan Provedel’s left palm.
Spezia registered their first attempt in the 34th minute as Arkiusz Reca tested Rui Patricio from the left side of the penalty area. Meanwhile Roma were close to getting their second on the stroke of half time.
Vina spreaded the ball to Henrikh Mkhitaryan on the left flank, the Turkish footballer delivered a first time cross to Abraham at the far post. The 24-year-old forward chested the ball towards the goal, but only managed to hit the woodwork. The rebound fell to Veretout, but Dimitris Nikalou and Martin Eric both threw themselves to make a goal-line save.
Roma doubled the lead, 11 minutes after the restart. Once again it was a corner kick from the right flank. Veretout’s out-swinging corner found Ibanez inside the box and the defender scored with a powerful diving header to seal all three points for Roma.
Kevin Amiani came close to pulling one back for the visitors but his header from Simone Bastoni’s cross went just wide. Substitute Felix was booked for a shoulder charge earlier in the second half and the young Ghanian was sent off for controlling the ball with his hand and smashing it into the net.
The 18-year-old celebrated the goal, but the referee disallowed the goal and gave the striker a second yellow card. The win helped Mourinho’s side to climb to sixth in the points table with 28 points from 17 games. It was Roma’s first league win in three games, having lost the last two games.
“I liked the two goals from corners, because yesterday we trained on set pieces for 25 minutes,” Mourinho said.
“I like the result, not the game. It was not a difficult match, starting from the first half, we gave away and lost a lot of easy balls.
“We never had good ball circulation. At that moment it was not difficult to play against Spezia. After the 2-0, I also liked the effort of Ibanez, who remained on the pitch with some difficulties.
“I had a feeling the game wasn’t over. After Smalling came off, everything changes, because [Bryan] Cristante took his place. The team let the opponent enter the match.”
